Mister President, Excellencies,

I would like to thank Administrator Steiner and the entire UNDP personnel around the globe for their unwavering commitment to advancing sustainable development, under often exceptionally difficult circumstances.

The midterm review has highlighted UNDP’s successful implementation across all six signature solutions of its Strategic Plan.

We would like make five short comments

Firstly,
Germany champions a feminist foreign and development policy and pursues a gender-transformative and intersectional approach.
To that end, we encourage UNDP to include all vulnerable groups in its programming, and to amplify efforts that dismantle structural barriers impeding sustainable progress.
We also urge UNDP to undertake additional efforts to ensure equal participation,
leadership opportunities and representation of women within the organization, particularly in hardship contexts.

Secondly,
Social protection benefits societies as a whole.
It strengthens social cohesion and increases resilience in the face of crises.

Germany’s development policy is committed to promoting social protection systems.
We therefore commend UNDP’s progress towards its ambitious poverty moonshot ato move 100 million people out of multidimensional poverty by 2025.
But challenges persist.
Could you elaborate how UNDP will adjust the remaining years of the Strategic Plan to improve access of the most vulnerable groups to basic services and financial inclusion?

Thirdly,
Germany applauds UNDP for fostering innovation and digital transformation.
The Accelerator Labs have proven to be impressive networks of local change-makers with global impact.
They were successful
- In scaling up digital solutions, many of them with artificial and collective intelligence, and
- In creating tangible results on the ground.
We hope that this important instrument can be further strengthened in the future.

Fourth
The first Hamburg Sustainability Conference (HSC), will take place in October in Berlin.
We are very proud to have Administrator Steiner as Chair and UNDP as key partner with a particular focus on the topic of responsible Artificial Intelligence for sustainable development.
We hope that many MS will attend the conference

Fifth and lastly,
I want to echo the importance of core funding for UNDP.
It is essential for UNDP to respond swiftly to emerging needs.
Germany remains committed to supporting UNDP through core contributions:
We urge all member states to recognize its vital significance for the organization.
Thank you.